Remembering extension adventures

Did this happen to you?

Above, This Extension Service sign hung outside an extension office in 1955. You are part of a proud history of extension agents.

You show up at a meeting and think you’re a guest, only to find out you are the guest speaker.

There is a power failure during an autumn program, but you continue by using the light from a jack-o’-lantern.

You can organize a livestock show in less than two weeks.

You can get a screen, projector and handouts in your vehicle when it is raining (and if you are really good, it will all fit in a small vehicle).

You can throw together a display in 15 minutes flat and end up exhibiting it on the hood of your car.

You wear two different shoes to work on the day of an important presentation.

You join a civic organization and you are the program every month.

It snows, floods, hails, ices or sets record temperatures for heat (pick one) before a major extension event.

You have more training manuals than the Library of Congress.

According to your work calendar, everyone shows up for a meeting on the wrong day (or no one shows up for a meeting on the right day).

In a pinch you can make a screen for a projector from a sheet, a piece of poster board or the side of a barn, if necessary.

Your vehicle looks like you are moving to the next county when, in reality, you are just going to do a short workshop.

You can carry a projector, handouts, two extension cords, laptop and refreshments in one trip from the extension center to the car, and then from the car to the meeting hall.

Your children’s eyes glaze over as you attempted to describe University of Missouri Extension.

A smiling coworker approaches and you get the feeling they want you to judge something.

Excerpts from the booklet “You Know You’re in Extension When…” edited by Karen DeBord. She was a state human development specialist in Missouri before going to North Carolina Cooperative Extension. She published a booklet in 1996.